Lost files on external. Problem from OSX?

Zatara214 · 09-20-2009, 01:29 AM

A while back, I used my sister's macbook to back up a large amount of files to my external hard drive. I know the transfer finished, but it seems as though the files are no longer there, even though the space that they would be taking up is occupied (it's a terabyte drive, so it's hard to keep track of, but the visible files are about 50 GB less than the registered used space, which is just about what my backed up files would have been). I'm now using Ubuntu 9.10 on my laptop, dual booting with Windows 7, with my sisters macbook at the ready. None of these operating systems can see the files, even though the space on the drive is occupied by something. Is there anything I can do in this case?

eddie.alvin · 09-20-2009, 09:53 AM

check if the files are hidden. connect your external drive to the macbook.

open terminal and fire this command:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

then relaunch finder by pressing cmd+option+esc, select finder and press relaunch.

this will show all the hidden files on your mac including system files. now check if you can see your files on the external drive.

now to restore your mac to its original state, fire this command on treminal:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

again relaunch finder.

_____________________________________________
Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish!!

09-20-2009, 01:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
Zatara214 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 46 OS: Ubuntu 8.10	Lost files on external. Problem from OSX? A while back, I used my sister's macbook to back up a large amount of files to my external hard drive. I know the transfer finished, but it seems as though the files are no longer there, even though the space that they would be taking up is occupied (it's a terabyte drive, so it's hard to keep track of, but the visible files are about 50 GB less than the registered used space, which is just about what my backed up files would have been). I'm now using Ubuntu 9.10 on my laptop, dual booting with Windows 7, with my sisters macbook at the ready. None of these operating systems can see the files, even though the space on the drive is occupied by something. Is there anything I can do in this case? __________________ Sager NP8660: 1920 x 1200 WUXGA Matte Screen; Intel P8600 45nm @ 2.4 Ghz; 4 GB DDR3 @1066 Mhz; 320 GB HDD @ 5400 RPM; X-Fi Xtreme Notebook Audio Card; Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT; Ubuntu 9.10 x64 / Windows 7 Ultimate x64

09-20-2009, 09:53 AM	#2 (permalink)
eddie.alvin Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 39 OS: Mac OSX Leopard 10.5.8	Re: Lost files on external. Problem from OSX? check if the files are hidden. connect your external drive to the macbook. open terminal and fire this command: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE then relaunch finder by pressing cmd+option+esc, select finder and press relaunch. this will show all the hidden files on your mac including system files. now check if you can see your files on the external drive. now to restore your mac to its original state, fire this command on treminal: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE again relaunch finder. _____________________________________________ Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish!!